Wehrmacht combat pistols Walther P38 Walther P38 photo

Walther P38
(Walter P38) is a German self-loading pistol of 9 mm caliber. Developed in Zella-Mehlis in Thuringia. Since 1938, it was in service in Germany, and then in the armed forces and police services of other countries, including after World War II.

Story

In 1936, Fritz Walter and engineer Fritz Barthlemens received a patent (DRP No. 721702 dated October 27, 1936) for a barrel bore locking system - a latch rotating in a vertical plane. It was this decision that formed the basis of the new generation of German military Walter pistols, first used in the fourth version of the pistol being developed. Eric and Georg Walter received a patent for the bolt, ejector, firing pin and cartridge presence indicator in the chamber.

The history of the development of the Walther P38 pistol began in 1929, when the Carl Walther Waffenfabrik company began development work on a new 9-mm pistol for arming the army. German gunsmiths decided to design a weapon based on the design of the 7.65 mm Walther PP pistol, essentially simply increasing its dimensions. The result of these developments was the Militärische Pistole (MP), which appeared in 1934, which had the same automatic blowback mechanism as its prototype.

Tests have shown the unacceptability of using the powerful 9x19 mm Parabellum cartridge in a pistol with such an automatic system. In addition, due to insufficient funding, the design of a new pistol for the armed forces was resumed later, in 1935. In 1934–1935 a model was developed with automatic equipment with a movable barrel and its rigid locking at the moment of firing by two swinging cylinders; it had a double-action trigger mechanism, a hammer type, with a hidden trigger.

In 1936, a new pistol was developed under the name “Armee Pistole” (AP) with a simplified locking system with one cylinder swinging in a vertical plane and two return springs. In 1937, the pistol was modified in accordance with the requirements of the Army Weapons Directorate, introducing an open trigger with a rounded head into the design.

In 1938, the pistol was equipped with a hammer with a spoke and renamed the “Heeres-Pistole” (HP). After failures with four variants that used a hidden trigger, the successful design of the safety and trigger with an open trigger of the Walther PP pistol of 1929 was finalized. Also in 1938, army tests began.

The pistol was adopted by the Wehrmacht on April 20, 1940 under the name P38 (German: Pistole 38). The army order to the Walter company was made in April 1939, but the first deliveries to the troops were made only in August.[1] Over time, it replaced the Luger-Parabellum pistol (although not completely) and became the most popular pistol in the German army. It was produced not only on the territory of Nazi Germany, but also on the territory of Belgium and occupied Czechoslovakia.

During the war, especially in its second half, production technology was simplified in order to reduce labor intensity, so military-issue pistols have a rougher finish and even a simplified design (without an indicator of the presence of a cartridge in the chamber).

Captured pistols were used by partisans, as well as military personnel of the Red Army and other countries of the anti-Hitler coalition.

In the spring of 1943, it was noted that the pistols worked reliably when using German-made military cartridges, as well as cartridges made in the USA and Great Britain, however, when using 9-mm Italian-made wartime cartridges, delays in firing were possible [2].

After the war, arms production in Germany was stopped for a long time. Only in 1957 did the production of this pistol resume in Germany. It was supplied to the Bundeswehr under the P1 brand. A pistol of this model was also produced in Turkey, Yugoslavia, France, Austria and Switzerland after WWII, including for export.

Since 1957, two models of pistols have been produced: P1 and P38. P1s were produced for the needs of the Bundeswehr, and P38s were produced for export and for the needs of the police. A distinctive feature of both post-war models is the 100 g lighter die-cast aluminum-scandium alloy frame. In small quantities, P38s were produced for export and with steel frames.

In the 1950s and 60s, a massive suppressor was developed for the Walther P.38, intended for covert intelligence operations in Europe[3][4].

In 1976, the following elements were added to the P1 model to increase service life and use more powerful cartridges:

• In the P1 frame, a steel transverse dowel is installed in the area between the bolt lock and the bolt stop to take on the load from the barrel when fired and extend the service life of the lightweight alloy frame;
• Model P1 barrels use a press-fitted stellite liner. Wear-resistant stellite extends the service life of barrels during intensive use in military conditions and allows the use of more powerful 9x19 mm NATO cartridges with an increased powder charge.

The pistol is mentioned in literary and artistic works, and is found in films, cartoons and computer games[5].

A Brief History of the Walther P.38 Pistol

Like any weapon that subsequently becomes widespread, the Walther P.38 pistol did not appear out of the blue; it was preceded by a series of pistols of less successful designs. The designers of the Walther company set themselves the task of creating a pistol that was simpler and cheaper than Georg Luger’s P.08. From a technical point of view, the task was more than simple, since the R.08 pistol is a complex and expensive weapon to produce, but there was one catch.

This snag was the characteristics of the Luger pistol, which not all designs could compete with. But even this was not the main problem. The main problem was that the military became very attached to the R.08 and in order to force them to change this pistol to another, it was necessary to do something at least as good or count on a lucky coincidence of circumstances.

The first designs of Walther pistols, which were supposed to replace the P.08, were very far from ideal. For some reason, the designers decided to move in a direction that was obviously wrong. The main mistake of the designers was the idea of ​​​​creating a pistol chambered for the 9x19 cartridge with an automatic system based on the use of recoil energy when the bolt moves freely.

The result of this movement was a pistol that closely resembled a larger and significantly heavier version of the Walther PP . Of course, such a weapon could not satisfy even the most modest requirements and it did not go into mass production. With this pistol, a little confusion in the designations began, since it was called Walther MP (Militarpistole), this designation was also used for subsequent models, which were based on a blowback automatic system. The first two versions of the MP pistol were not fundamentally different, but the third version was different; its distinctive feature was the trigger mechanism with a hidden trigger.

Despite all the efforts to bring the design of the latest version of the pistol to acceptable levels of durability and reliability and attempts to reduce the weight of the weapon, this did not bear any fruit. It soon became clear that the automatic blowback system could not be implemented at the proper level in a pistol powered by the relatively powerful 9x19 cartridge, given the technical advances that were available at that time. As time has shown, the use of such an automation system is possible in pistols, but it has its own nuances; the most famous example of such a weapon is the VP70 pistol from Heckler und Koch.

It is worth noting that other experimental models of pistols are also mentioned with the designation MR, the automation of which was no longer based on a free-moving bolt, but there is no reliable data on what kind of weapon it was exactly.

In the process of searching for a workable automation system that would be reliable and simple, Fritz Bartlemens proposed his own development, which subsequently became the basis for the weapon that we now know under the designation Walther P.38.

The main idea of ​​the design was to improve the short-stroke automatic system proposed by Browning. The main advantage of his development, the designer highlighted the stroke of the barrel, which now moved strictly in a straight line, without distortion when unlocking the barrel bore . This was achieved by introducing a kind of latch into the design, which, when moving backward, interacted with the rod and removed the barrel and bolt group from the clutch.

Based on this design, the next pistol was developed and offered to the military. This pistol already had the designation AR. The weapon was rejected by the military due to the fact that the trigger in the pistol was hidden; apparently they considered this decision not safe enough. After changing this “shortcoming”, the weapon was again offered to the military, with the new designation HP. It used the trigger mechanism of the second version of the MP pistol. This pistol was already practically a Walther P.38 and, after changing a few minor details, it was adopted for service in 1940.

It should be noted that before it was put into service, this weapon with the name HP could be found on the shelves of gun stores, and the pistol was offered not only in the version chambered for 9x19 cartridges, but also for .32 ACP, .38 Super Auto and .45 ACP ammunition. It is mentioned that weapons under this designation were produced until 1944, and even if this is true, it is obvious that the volumes were very small, since all enterprises, especially those involved in the production of weapons, worked exclusively for military purposes, and not commercial.

By the way, there is one little-known fact about this weapon. This pistol was adopted by the Swedish army under the designation M39, but never appeared in the army. Before the outbreak of World War II, the Walther P.38 became the winner in the competition for a new pistol in the Swedish Army, where just over one and a half thousand units of this weapon were sent. However, the beginning of the war made its own adjustments and Sweden had to abandon the pistol and adopt the Husqvarna M/40.

Design

Walther P38 in the Tula Weapons Museum.
The automatic operation is based on the use of recoil energy during a short barrel stroke. The barrel is locked by a latch that swings in a vertical plane and is located between the barrel lugs. The barrel is uncoupled from the bolt by lowering the rear part of the latch using a spring-loaded longitudinal rod located in the breech lug of the barrel.

When the barrel rolls back, the rod hits the frame and turns the latch to the disengaged position. Two return springs, located on guide rods in the grooves at the top of the frame, are compressed. When moving forward, due to the release of the return springs, the bolt pushes the barrel and the spring-loaded rod returns to the rear position, releasing the latch. Under the influence of the bevel in the bottom of the frame, the latch rises, engaging with the shutter.

The Walter P38 pistol consists of 58 parts.

The trigger mechanism is double action, with an open trigger. The mainspring is twisted, cylindrical, located in the handle. Trigger force when the hammer is cocked is 2.5 kg, in self-cocking mode - 6.5 kg. The trigger rod is located outside, on the right side of the frame.

The manual safety is controlled by a flag on the left side of the bolt. When the flag is lowered, the hammer is released safely if it was cocked. In this case, the firing pin is blocked, the hammer rotation limiter is lowered and does not allow the hammer to rotate to the cocked position either by pressing the trigger spoke or by pressing the trigger.

The trigger, when the safety is turned off by turning the flag up, takes the forward position. Cocking the hammer brings the trigger to the rear position.

When the safety is engaged, the trigger remains in the position it occupied before the flag was lowered. If there was no cocking or jerking of the bolt, then turning on the safety will leave the trigger in the forward position. If the hammer is cocked, then when the safety is engaged, the trigger will remain in the rear position.

For a military pistol, such ambiguity leads to inconvenience, since the pressed position of the trigger is often associated with the engaged safety. The fact is that when the safety is on, the shutter does not lock and you can jerk the shutter. At the same time, the trigger is released from the lock and rotates freely, and the trigger takes the rear position.

So that even after turning off the safety, setting the safety is also accompanied by a rear position of the trigger, you must first cock the trigger and then turn on the safety. If the trigger is released manually by holding and pressing the trigger, the trigger will take the forward position.

After the safety is turned off, a shot is possible either by self-cocking or after cocking the hammer. After cocking the trigger, the release is short and soft.

The function of the disconnector is performed by the trigger rod. Interacting with the surface of the bolt after the shot, the trigger rod moves down, disconnecting from the sear. The trigger, when pressed, transmits force to the hammer only if it has been completely released, which ensures that only a single fire is fired.

To prevent premature firing when the bolt does not reach the locking position, the firing pin is blocked by an automatic safety device located in the bolt above the trigger. Only after the bolt has reached the forward position is the firing pin unlocked by the lifting lever, which is on the same axis as the trigger.

The magazine holds 8 rounds, the magazine latch is located at the rear end of the handle. The mainspring also serves as the magazine latch spring. In the back of the bolt above the trigger there is an indicator of the presence of a cartridge in the chamber in the form of a protruding end of a thin rod.

After all the cartridges from the magazine are used up, the bolt stops at the bolt stop in the rear position. To remove the shutter from the delay, you can lower the shutter stop lever, located on the left of the frame on the same axis as the trigger. If there is no empty magazine in the handle, then to remove the bolt from the delay, you can pull the bolt back a little and release it. With the magazine inserted, the bolt will force the cartridge into the chamber and the pistol will be ready to fire again.

Characteristic design features:

• two return springs of small diameter are used, placed parallel in a frame under the bolt;
• the ejector is located on the left (spent cartridges are reflected to the left);
• a flag-type fuse is activated when the flag is turned down;
• the trigger rod is located outside, on the right side of the frame;
• short shutter with a large cutout at the top.

The short-breech design is explained by the military's requirement to be able to fire through the viewing slot of armored vehicles, as well as the desire of German gunsmiths to preserve and develop the well-proven shape of the Luger P08 pistol.

Design of the Walther P.38 pistol

As mentioned above, the basis for the design of the Walther P.38 pistol was an automatic system with a short barrel stroke and locking of the barrel bore, swinging in a vertical plane with a latch. It was interesting to implement a system of protection against accidental shooting. The external safety switch blocked the firing pin when turned on, so the trigger could not move it when released.

In addition, another detail was introduced into the design to protect the weapon from premature firing before the barrel bore was locked. A spring-loaded part was stretched across the entire bolt of the weapon, which, when the bolt casing was closed, rested against the bottom of the cartridge case and was pressed into the bolt casing. The movement of this part backwards led to the unlocking of the firing pin, in addition, it was also used as an indicator of the presence of a cartridge in the chamber.

Despite the apparent simplicity of the pistol’s design, the weapon turned out to be clearly overloaded with small elements that performed one single function. Yes, the pistol turned out to be simpler and cheaper to produce than the R.08, but by modern standards, the production of such a pistol would be unreasonably difficult, without obvious advantages in the form of higher performance compared to competitors or a low price.

To be objective, this pistol finally lost its relevance as a military weapon back in the 50s of the last century, since by that time a lot of cheaper options had appeared, both in production and on the counter.

Options and modifications

Firing a West German-made P1 with a silencer[6]

• Walther AP
  - prototype 1936
• Walther HP
  - second prototype
• Walther P38
  - mass-produced from 1939 to the spring of 1945 (after the surrender of Germany, in 1945-1946 a number of pistols were assembled from previously produced parts), as well as in 1957-2004 in Germany[7]
• Walther P.38K
  - a variant with a barrel shortened to 72 mm, ordered in 1944 by the RSHA to arm certain categories of SD, Gestapo and SS employees. Several thousand pistols of this model were produced. On these pistols, instead of the “Walther” marking, there is a “cyq” stamp, the front sight is made integral with the bolt-casing and is part of it, but the rear sight is still adjustable. Later, pistols of this type were in service with the Ministry of State Security of the GDR, and in 1974-1981. about 1,500 more units were produced. P38K (of which 200 are chambered for 7.65mm Parabellum) for employees of the German anti-terrorist special forces[7]
• sports training 5.6 mm Walther P38
  - post-war commercial model of West German production chambered for .22 LR[8]
• Walther P.1
  - model 1957[7]
• Walther P.4
  is a police pistol with a barrel length of 104 mm.

Traumatic, gas and pneumatic pistols

• ERMA 38R
  is a 9-mm traumatic pistol chambered for 9 mm PA manufactured by . Has an external resemblance to the Walther P38[9]
• ERMA 38G
  - gas pistol produced [10]
• BRUNI ME-38P
  - starting/gas pistol manufactured by the Italian company Bruni[11]
• Crosman P-338
  - 4.5 mm pneumatic gas pistol
• Crosman C41
  - 4.5 mm pneumatic gas pistol, manufactured by the Taiwanese company
  WinGun
  [12]
• Umarex Walther P38
  - 4.5 mm pneumatic gas pistol, manufactured by the German company Umarex
• Maruzen Walther P38- 6 mm air pistol. It is the most accurate copy of the Walther P38 pistol.
• WE Walther P38 - 6mm air pistol. It is an exact airsoft copy of a pistol, the trigger works in accordance with the combat prototype.

Characteristics of the Umarex Walther P38 air pistol

Air pistol Umarex Walther P38 (Walter) buy in the Popadiv10 online store. Air pistol Umarex Walther P38 (Walter) at a low price of 14,390 rubles. You can pay for your order by mail upon receipt in any part of the Russian Federation. Before placing an order, be sure to check the price and contents of the product by phone (during business hours) or by e-mail and feedback system (at any time convenient for you).

Information on the product “Pneumatic pistol Umarex Walther P38 (Walter)” is for informational purposes only and is not a public offer as defined by the provisions of Article 437 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation; characteristics, appearance, color and equipment may be changed by the manufacturer without notice.

Operating countries

• Austria: after the Anschluss of Austria in March 1938, pistols began to enter service with troops and other security forces; after the end of the Second World War, a number of pistols remained at the disposal of the police and other state security forces of Austria
• Algeria: In 1954-1962, during the Algerian War of Independence, a significant number of Walther P.38 pistols arrived in Algeria from Egypt[13]. A few more became trophies during the war against the French.
• Angola: A number of Walther P.38 pistols arrived in Angola in the 1960s and were used in subsequent years[13]
• Third Bulgarian Kingdom
• Kingdom of Hungary: some received from the Germans[14]
• Germany: in service with the army and police (after the Walther P.1 was adopted in December 1997, the replacement of the Walther P.1 began)[15]
• Islamic Republic of Afghanistan: in 2005, the Bundestag decided to transfer to the Afghan Ministry of Internal Affairs 10 thousand Walther P.1 pistols, removed from the Bundeswehr's arsenal and in storage. The pistols were delivered in 2006, were used by the Afghan police, and a significant number were stolen and lost in the following years - in the fall of 2009, about half of the received pistols remained at the disposal of government forces[16].
• Kazakhstan: as of 2007, certified as a service weapon[17]
• Pakistan: remained in service until at least 2003[18]
• Portugal - adopted by the army in 1961 under the name Pistola 9 mm Walther m/961
  , withdrawn from service in 2022 and replaced by Glock 17[19]
• Nazi Germany: in service with the army and other paramilitary armed forces. Production of the first batch of pistols began at the end of 1939; on April 26, 1940, the first 1,500 units were transferred to the army.
• USSR: captured pistols were used by partisans, as well as soldiers of the Red Army.
• Russia: a number of pistols remained in storage until at least 2022[20]
• Ukraine: is a reward weapon[21][22]; as of July 14, 2005, the Ministry of Defense had 4,300 Walther P-38 pistols in storage (4,200 serviceable and 100 intended for disposal)[23]; as of August 6, 2008, there were 2,000 pieces left in the storage of the Ministry of Defense[24].; as of August 15, 2011 - 1,700 Walther P-38 pistols[25]
• Croatia: in service in the 1990s; about a thousand units were purchased in Ukraine.
• Sweden: in 1939, 1,500 pistols were purchased for the police, put into service under the name Pistol m/39
  [14]
• Independent State of Croatia: some received from the Germans[14]

French star on the German "Walter"

When getting acquainted with this R.38, attention is drawn to the peculiar cheeks of the handle made of sheet steel, the strange coating of the outer surface and the absence of any German test and acceptance marks, but there is a five-pointed star. On April 20, 1945, French troops occupied the city of Oberndorf and captured the Mauser factories. Soon the British and Americans also arrived. The Americans confiscated all technical documentation that was available, some of which the French vigorously demanded back. Mauser employees were also interrogated and interned. Despite heavy Allied air raids in the previous months, the Mauser factories remained largely operational and already in May 1945 the French commandant ordered the resumption of weapons production. For the French, 98k carbines, small-caliber training rifles, as well as model 08 and HSc pistols began to be manufactured in Oberndorf. The French also liked the P.38, which was also produced by Mauser factories during the war.

This Walther P.38 was exclusively in German service. On the right side of its bolt there are test and acceptance stamps of the Wehrmacht Arms Department

Thus, in May 1945, production of the Pistolet Automatique P.38 model began for the French. At first, parts were used from existing old stocks, manufactured at the Mauser, Walther and Spreewald arms factories, with or without branding, as well as parts from captured weapons of all manufacturers and a wide variety of years of production. Individual parts were also used that were ordered by the German Armaments Directorate from various companies and accepted from them. Here we need to add a number of valves that came from the captured FN factories in Belgium. Also later, parts that were produced again under French rule began to be used. The copy presented in the article does not have any German (neither civil nor military) test or acceptance marks. But on the left side of the front barrel bracket there are two Mauser factory acceptance marks “WR”.

On the front barrel bracket of the French Walther P.38 pistol there are Mauser’s own factory acceptance marks - the letters “WR”

All bolts manufactured for the French bear the same production mark or Mauser factory code, “svw”, which was used under German management.

The French pistol Walther P.38 on the left side of the bolt shows the stamp “svw 45”

Numerical designations for the years “1945” or “1946” were added to it. As a rule, a serial number was applied to the bolt, barrel and frame. Mauser P.38 pistols were numbered in the same way as at the Walther plant in Thuringia - they were numbered in blocks of 10,000 pieces. The first 10,000th block was followed by a block whose serial numbers were supplemented by the addition of letters.

Our weapon was known to the French as Pistolet Autmatique de 9 mm, type Walther P.38 or Pistolet Autmatique P.38. The Austrians first called it 9 mm M 38 (D) Pistole, later 9 mm P 38

By the end of the war in 1945, Mauser products had reached the "f" block. Probably, the first French versions with the code “svw 45” also continued to use the letter “f” at first. This was followed in 1945 by the letters "g", "h" and "i". The letter "j" has been deleted. The "k" refers to the years 1945 and 1946. Since 1946, the maker's mark “svw 46” has been used. Our example of the P.38 with the code “svw 45” has an additional letter “g” on the barrel and on the frame in the serial number. On the bolt, the letter “g” is stamped twice, which is probably a mistake. The serial number on the frame has definitely been rebranded. For other P.38 pistols, serial numbers were partially removed from old parts by grinding or milling.

The serial number is located on the left side of the bolt, here with a mistakenly stamped "g"

P.38 pistols for the French were equipped with special metal grip cheeks instead of the usual bakelite ones, and they gave the impression of a cheaper “Volkssturm” weapon. There were various coatings for the outer surface. Some weapon samples showed characteristic gray phosphating, as was usual for Mauser factories under the auspices of the Germans. Then there was a mixture of phosphated and blued parts. For newly manufactured parts, dark gray phosphating, done in the French way, was common. The old coating of existing parts, especially the main parts, was recycled. This is how “unpainted marks” arose, including on handle plates made of sheet steel.

French P.38 pistol in Austrian service. Particularly striking are the handle linings made of sheet steel.

Most P.38 pistols made for the police had either a matte black blued finish or a shiny black blue finish. The stores mostly came from old German stock. They were often marked “P.38v” with an additional letter “U” and the WaA (Wehrmacht Weapons Office) mark. Another characteristic feature of the French P.38 pistols was the five-pointed star on the right side of the bolt. This was a French military acceptance mark. In collector circles it is often called the “French star”.

The "French Star" is the acceptance mark of the French Army.

The acceptance mark for the French police looked like a bomb with three flames. The sometimes applied three-leaf clover leaf also served as a French acceptance mark. It is unknown to which French formations or organizations the P.38 pistol branded in this way must have belonged. According to a report from the Mauser plant, from May 1945 to May 1946, a total of 41,348 pistols of the P.38 model were manufactured for the French. Of these, 36,720 pistols were tested, accepted and shipped to the French customer. Even at the Allied conferences during the war, it was decided that the highest goal of the war was not only the deprivation of power and the division of the German Reich, but also its disarmament and demilitarization. These plans were again confirmed at a conference in Yalta in February 1945, at which it was decided that, along with the Soviet Union, the United States of America and Great Britain, France should also join the company of the occupation authorities. This demand was repeated at the Potsdam Conference in the summer of 1945.

Walther P38

After the occupation of Germany in May 1945, the occupation authorities mercilessly accelerated the policy of disarmament and dismantling of defense enterprises with one exception: France wanted to continue strengthening its military potential at the expense of German “weapon forges”. They also thought about significantly preserving the functionality of the Mauser plant. The Soviet Union sharply protested against the fact that immediately after the end of the war, German weapons would be produced on German soil, by a German enterprise and by German workers. In June 1946, a protest from Moscow was heard and the production of weapons at the Mauser plant was stopped, and the production of measuring instruments stopped in November 1946. The production of writing, calculating and other office machines also came to an end. In June 1946, preparations for dismantling the plant began, and on August 16, a French officer began to take over the forced control of the Mauser plant. The French took with them all movable property, among other things, semi-finished and finished products, raw materials, auxiliary and production materials, machine tools and machine tools, power plants, business documents and stationery, as well as measuring instruments. After this, the French blew up the factory floors.

The mark “as” means Walther, the number 41 is the year of manufacture 1941. The weapon is equipped with bakelite grips, which is typical for the German Wehrmacht P.38 pistols

The finished parts for the R.38 served not only as a stock of spare parts for the French army and police. In the second half of 1946, some wagons with parts and tools dismantled at the Mauser plant arrived at the state-owned Manufacture d'Armes Châtellerault (MAC) arms factory. In January 1950 (some other sources say the beginning of 1947), several hundred sets of parts for assembling pistols models 08 and 38 were prepared there. In January of the same year, the director of the MAC plant asked his superiors in the French military leadership for permission to manufacture 1,500 pieces R.08 and 1000 copies of R.38. The management agreed to 500 R.38 pistols for the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Probably the serial numbers of these weapons ranged from 1l to 500l. Naturally, they did not have any military acceptance mark, because they were intended exclusively for the French police. After this, the Manufacture d'Armes Châtellerault plant only received orders for spare parts and, above all, for magazines for the P.38 pistol. Along with the police, the main users of the P.38 pistol were the French military. The Ministry of Defense issued a service manual with the simple title Pistolet Automatique P.38. This manual was formatted according to the German DIN-A5 standard (148x210 mm), contained only 16 pages, was made of low-grade paper and was fastened with metal staples.

The holster of the Austrian Walther P.38 pistol indicates the origin and year of purchase

Holsters for French P.38s came in all sorts of shapes and sizes. German holsters were partially used. Holsters for Colt M 1911 and 1911 A1 pistols were redesigned. There was also a holster made of fragile leather, which, following the French model, was equipped with a tongue at the bottom for opening and closing.

The Stolla company from Vienna also produces holsters for Walther P.38 pistols according to a proven German model

Since 1945, France has been involved in two major wars to retain its colonies and overseas provinces. The Indochina War began in 1946 and ended with the expulsion of the French in 1954. It was in this conflict that the mainstay of pistol armament was numerous P.38s, along with a wild collection of French and foreign weapons. The Algerian War officially began on November 1, 1954. It also ended in defeat for the French. Algerian independence was declared in 1962. Again, along with the newly adopted M.A.S. pistol. M 1950, soldiers also used the R.38 model in large quantities. May 15, 1955 was a great day for Austria - thanks to the signing of a state treaty, the occupation by the victors' armed forces ended and military sovereignty was declared, albeit with significant legal restrictions. The leadership of the Republic of Austria wanted to have an army as a sign of the independence of their country, but the costs of the newly created armed forces had to be kept at an extremely low level and the “weapons vinaigrette” in the Austrian army was very varied.

After being removed from service, the Walther P.38 pistol received the civilian test mark “NP”

There were at least seven different rifles and four models of submachine guns, with at least nine different cartridges. The variety of pistols was also impressive, including the R.08, FN High Power, VIS Radom M 1935 and Soviet TT. In terms of pistols, they soon concentrated on two models: the American M1911 .45 ACP pistol, adopted for service in Austria under the names 11.43 mm Pistole M. 1911 A1, 11.43 mm Pistole 43 or 11.43 mm P 11 (obtained temporarily) and on the pistol 9 mm P 38.

An Austrian Federation Armed Forces pistol disassembled for cleaning. The magazine was probably manufactured post-war by Walther in Ulm and exported to Austria

In 1956, the German pistol in the Austrian armed forces finally became known as the 9 mm M 38 (D) Pistole. By the beginning of 1956, all P.38 pistols received from the special gendarmerie and transferred to the gendarmerie units of the federal states, as well as the police, customs and other services, were subjected to a general inspection.

Next to the NP mark, which confirms shooting with smokeless powder, there is the letter “V”, which corresponds to the word “Vienna”, that is, it denotes the Austrian capital of Vienna. In this city, the French Walther P.38 pistol was shot again

In addition, a large number of pistols arrived, which were manufactured for the French at the Mauser plant in Oberndorf. These include our specimen, which, when rejected in 1988, was shot for certification as a civilian weapon.

Gerhard Ortmeier MA und Dr. Ludwig Hofmann

Notes

1. Prototypes of the Walther P.38 pistol
2. Walther pistol (Pistole 38) // German Infantry Weapons (special series No. 14). United States War Department. May 25, 1943. p. 10-15
3. Silent pistols: why American engineers cannot catch up with Russian ones Archived on August 1, 2015.
4. (unspecified)
   (inaccessible link). Date of access: September 5, 2015. September 24, 2015.
5. Walther P38 / Internet Movie Firearms Database
6. Johnson, Harold
   (narrator).
   Special Forces Foreign Weapons Demonstration
   (53:58 - 55:03). Fort Bragg, NC: US ​​Foreign Science & Technology Center. Date accessed 2018-03-16. Unknown parameter |date2= (help)
7. ↑ 123
   M. R. Popenker. Pistol Walther P38, P1 and P4 (Germany) / website “Modern small arms of the world”
8. Walther P-38 cal .22 pistol // American Rifleman magazine, May 1970
9. Erma 38 R / official website of the manufacturer
10. Erma 38 G / official website of the manufacturer
11. Bruni 38P blank gun (undefined)
    .
12. Crosman C41 semi-automatic, CO2 powered BB pistol (unspecified)
    (unavailable link). Access date: March 6, 2015. Archived February 22, 2015.
13. ↑ 12
    G. V. Shubin. What small arms is Africa fighting with? // “Asia and Africa today”, No. 3, March 2011, pp. 61-62
14. ↑ 123
    Paul Scarlata. The Walther P-38 Archived copy dated July 14, 2014 on the Wayback Machine // “Shooting Times” dated October 25, 2010
15. Pistol from vacuum packaging // “Arms and Hunting” magazine, No. 2, 2010
16. P. Kashin. Pistols from the arsenals of the Bundeswehr on the “black market” // Foreign Military Review magazine, No. 11 (752), November 2009, p. 87
17. Decree of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan No. 1305 of December 28, 2006 “On approval of the State Cadastre of civilian and service weapons and ammunition for them for 2007”
18. M. Krysin. Special forces units of Pakistan // “Foreign Military Review”, No. 1 (670), 2003. pp. 16-20
19. Exército reforma pistolas da II Guerra. A velha Walther P38 substituída pela austríaca Glock 17 de última geração
20. Trophies and symbols: near Vladimir they showed German weapons for the steps of the Main Temple of the Russian Armed Forces
21. “ Walter P-38 pistols were used to present gifts to Prime Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov, Minister of Economy Arseniy Yatsenyuk, and head of the office of the President of Ukraine Andrey Kislinsky.
    „ Award weapons are a scourge not only of the Ministry of Internal Affairs
22. “ Deputy Gennady Moskal proposes to develop a procedure that would not allow parliamentarians to enter the Verkhovna Rada with weapons... according to Moskal, “regional” Alexander Kuzmuk owns “a whole arsenal” of weapons... pistol “Walter” P-38, SBU order, 1996.
    "Moskal proposes to prohibit deputies from being like Rimbaud in the Rada // "Ukrainian Pravda" dated December 20, 2010
23. order to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated June 14, 2005. N 264-r
24. order to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on September 6, 2008. N 1092-r
25. order to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated September 15, 2011. No. 1022-r

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Pistol “Walter P-38” produced by . Just above the front edge of the trigger guard is the locking lever (lock). True, the pistol in the photo is not military, but rather an anniversary edition. However, neither externally nor internally it differs from military pistols. . “Walter P-38” (Germany). **************************************** ************ A little about the history of the Walther P-38 pistol. . Created (Karl Walter weapons factory, Zella-Mehlis, Thuringia) in the second half of the 30s, the P-38 model pistol was the logical conclusion of the design search for the creation of a new pistol commissioned by the reviving German armed forces.

Pistol “Walter P-38”, left view.
For the new model pistol, it was decided to use a more powerful cartridge than Germany was allowed to have according to the regulations

.

Pistol “Walter P-38”, left view.
. Treaty of Versailles 1919, which limited the production of personal weapons with a caliber of up to 8 mm, with a barrel length of no more than 100 mm. Although the design principle and ensuring the safety of weapons,

.

Pistol “Walther P-38”, right view.
developed for the J. Browning cartridge “7.65×17 HR” (.32 ACP), met the requirements of the early 30s, but the penetrating and stopping effect of the bullet for combat operations was insufficient. By this time, the company had completed tests and produced trial series of such pistols as “MR” (“Militer-Pistole” - 5,000 pcs.), .

Pistol “Walter P-5”, incomplete disassembly. The cutout on the release lever is parallel to the bolt. .
The leadership of the armed forces set new challenges for the developers, demanding the creation of a more powerful and reliable pistol for combat operations. So, in the mid-30s, specialists from the company S. Walther launched “Armee” (200 pieces) and “HP” (“Heeres-Pistole”), all of them were created for the 9x19 cartridge. For further development, the HP model was chosen as the most promising and meeting the requirements of the customer and time. The experts were right in their choice and field tests of the new

A military-issue Walther P-38 pistol with the bolt in the rearmost position, and a modern-issue pistol with a silencer.

. the 9 mm caliber cartridge, familiar to her from the “sixth” model pistol It was not surprising that this powerful and well-proven combat cartridge, developed back in 1902 by Georg Luger at the DWM (Deutsche Waffen-und Munitionsfabriken AG) company in Karlsruhe, (Karlsruhe). The designers of the new pistol had extensive experience in creating personal weapons. Behind them was the development of world-famous pistols of such models as “RR” and “RRK”. Although they were relatively low-power, because intended for official use (police officers, bailiffs, firefighters, foresters and postal workers) or self-defense and were chambered for 5.6 mm (.22) caliber cartridges; 6.35 mm (.25); 7.65 mm (.32) and 9 mm (".380 Auto" type). However, on their basis, a design approach was developed and a technology for mass production of weapons was developed. The models were successfully completed at the end of 1937. This marked the beginning of the development of large-scale production of a new pistol to equip the armed forces of Germany and a number of other countries with it. The pistol was named Walther “P-38”. The rearmament of the army began in 1940 with the officers, which is why the term “officer’s pistol” or “officer’s Walter” is often found in the literature. It is the most powerful pistol of this type during the Second World War (more than 1 million units were produced before 1945), and was in service with Germany for more than 50 years. In 1951, the production of the pistol was resumed by the Karl Walter Sportwaffenfabrik company for the Bundeswehr under the name P-1 (calibers

Pistol "Walther P-38". In the left photo, pay attention to the marks. In the right photo, notice the trigger rod protruding outward. .

7.65 and 9 mm Par), since 1976 its shortened and lightweight version has been produced under the name P-4. Therefore, already from the mid-thirties, the efforts of German gunsmiths were aimed at creating a worthy replacement for the Parabellum pistol. A number of works undertaken in this direction were crowned with success only by 1939, with the adoption of the 9x19-mm Walther P-38 pistol as a standard model of short-barreled personal weapons for Wehrmacht officers. The creators of the R-38 took into account and completely eliminated these shortcomings. . A little about the principles of operation of the automatic pistol “Walther P-38”. In its design, the semi-automatic pistol “R-38” uses the principle of automatic operation, based on recoil energy during a short barrel stroke, coupled to the bolt by a swinging block (a wedge with cylinders, i.e. the barrel is locked by a swinging cylinder). The rotation of the cylinder and release of the bolt occurs after its short retreat when firing, which ensures reloading. Two return springs are symmetrically located inside the bolt. The trigger is open. The sight is constant. The trigger mechanism of the pistol is double-action and allows only single fire, allowing self-cocking (that is, such a trigger mechanism provides a single (“soft”) or double (“hard”) trigger release). Manual cocking provides single action with a light trigger pull. When firing, after the weapon is released from the safety, only the first shot is fired in double action mode if you fire until the magazine is completely empty. The trigger must be released after each shot so that the weapon is prepared for the next shot. Only in this case is the lock released from the trigger and it can be released from combat cocking to fire the next shot. The trigger force when firing in single action mode is 2.5 kg, and in double action mode it is 6.5 kg. The latter value, according to modern requirements, seems too high even for an army pistol. The pistol's equipment is limited by the magazine capacity and is 8 rounds, but can be increased by equipping it using the 8+1 formula, when a cartridge is sent into the barrel. A little about the history of the production of the Walther P-38 pistol. . The frame of the Walther “P-38” pistol produced before 1945 is made of steel, and for its successors, the “P-1” and “P-4” models, it is made of a light metal alloy and has a handle width of 37 mm, which fits well into the hand men of average build. The light alloy frame ensured that the center of gravity of the weapon shifted forward, which reduced the weapon's movement out of the firing plane after the shot. This is the main difference between these models and the basic one. The weapon has a magazine locking latch in the lower rear part of the handle (“heel”), which must be pressed to remove it. The bolt has an indicator of the presence of a cartridge in the chamber. Two fuses are responsible for the safety of handling the pistol. External - manual, and internal - automatic. The external safety is operated using a flag-type rotary lever mounted on the left side of the bolt. By moving the flag, the firing pin is blocked, and then the trigger is removed from the cocking position. The internal fuse is located in the frame. It automatically prevents premature firing if it is not locked .
Pistol "Walther P-38". In the left photo, pay attention to the muzzle of the pistol. In the right photo, pay attention to the back of the shutter.
. that shutter. As soon as the cartridge enters the chamber and the bolt takes its original position, this is noticeably signaled by the protrusion of the pointer on the back of the bolt. Although the designers have tried several options for safety mechanisms, all of them, according to the authors, suffer from one common drawback. The safety mechanism is turned off by moving the flag up, which in a combat (stressful) situation can lead to its incomplete shutdown (without fixing) due to the unnatural movement of the thumb up and its possible slippage. An unfixed flag may move downward under the impact of shots, which will lead to unexpected blocking of the weapon at the most inopportune moment. There is also no version of the pistol that would have a safety with a double-sided arrangement of its drive flags, which is why the pistol is somewhat inconvenient to operate with the left hand, but in 1930 - 1960 they did not pay due attention to this. . The main advantages of the new pistol were: increased reliability indicators, reduced manufacturing labor intensity and a lower selling price (for Mauser-Werke the cost of the P-38 was 31 marks, while the Parabellum two years earlier cost the same company 35 marks). The bolt casing better protected the mechanisms from contamination in combat conditions, the release was smooth with a “self-cocking” mode, and the shape of the weapon was more streamlined. The Luger inherited only an open barrel and a standard 9x19 mm cartridge. However, a complete transition of industry to the production of new weapons occurred only in 1942 - then the Germans were forced to this by the very course of the war, which required increasing the production of cheap models of personal weapons. Despite this, Mauser continued to manufacture spare parts for the Parabellum until the end of World War II, which were still in service with the Wehrmacht. If until 1939 the P.08 pistol, adopted in Germany for service back in 1908, served as the main standard personal weapon of officers and non-commissioned officers of the German army, then during the Second World War the Parabellum was used until its end as a weapon limited standard by privates and non-commissioned officers in the technical branches of the German armed forces, in the police and SS troops. Already the first battles of the Second World War fully revealed the high efficiency, ease of use and reliability of the Walther P-38 pistols. The P-38 pistol, which replaced the Parabellum, being much simpler to manufacture, accordingly required much less material and physical costs for its production. There was little time left until the end of the war, and the P-38 did not have time to oust its predecessor from the Wehrmacht. The pistol is weak in terms of service durability - it’s better not to drop it. The German special services were armed with P-38s, with barrels shortened to 68 and 85 mm. There also existed and was a particularly coveted trophy, a multi-charged analogue of the “P-38” model - the “P-44” model, which appeared in the middle of the Second World War, and had a magazine with a capacity of 13 rounds ( variants were produced for 7.65x22 or 9x19 mm cartridges “ Luger" and chambered for 7.62x25 "TT". Pistols "R-38" and "R-44" of 7.62x25 mm "TT" caliber were in service with the Soviet special services after the Great Patriotic War). At the end of 1939, the Karl Walter company began production of new P-38 army pistols, but only on April 26, 1940, their first batch of one and a half thousand pieces left the company’s assembly shops. By the summer of that year, 13,000 P-38 pistols of the zero series were produced, which were originally intended only for ground forces. of the ground forces, the first numbers of heavy artillery guns, as well as part of the non-commissioned officers of the Wehrmacht and SS field troops were armed with Walther P-38 pistols efficiency, ease of use and reliability were fully realized The deployment of large-scale combat operations on the Eastern Front in 1941-42. led to significant Wehrmacht losses in short-barreled weapons. The increasing needs of the Wehrmacht during the Second World War for weapons of personal self-defense required a sharp increase in the volume of production of standard P-38 pistols, which, however, was beyond the power of the Karl Walter company alone. The company's insufficient production capacity (in 1939 the entire workforce was only five hundred people) was the main reason for an unprecedented act in German arms history - the transfer of licenses and technical documentation for the production of pistols to other arms companies. A.G. company began production of the R-38 in September 1942 in Oberndorf, and from May 1943, Spree-Werke GmbH, which, with the help of engineers from Mauser-Werke, organized the production of these weapons at its factories in Spandau (Germany) and in the Czech city of Hradkov nad- Nisoy. All these measures made it possible to sharply increase the production of personal self-defense weapons; by 1944, the Karl Walter company had increased the monthly production of P-38 pistols to ten thousand units, Mauser-Werke A.G. - up to twelve and a half thousand, but everyone was overtaken by Spree-Werke, one of the few German arms companies during the Second World War that was able to put the production of small arms on a continuous conveyor production line. The repeated increase in the needs of the German army for weapons of personal self-defense required a sharp increase in the production volumes of standard P-38 pistols. The expansion of production of Walther P-38 pistols required an increasing production of spare parts and components. a number of Western European arms factories, operating , were also involved in the cooperation for their production . Thus, the Czech arms concern in Prague “Bohmische Waffenfabrik” (formerly “Ceska Zbrojovka”) manufactured barrels for the companies “Carl Walther Waffenfabrik GmbH” and “Spree-Werke GmbH”. The largest arms concerns - the Belgian “Fabrique Nationale d-Armes de Guerre” in Herstal and the Czech “Zbrojovka Brno” in Brno produced “R-38” frames and breech covers. Another Czech factory Erste Nordbohmische Waffenfabrik and one of the oldest German arms companies C.G. Napel Waffen - und Fahrradfabrik specialized in the manufacture of magazines. All these events made it possible to sharply increase the production of personal self-defense weapons, which were so necessary for the front. During the Second World War, the design of the P-38 did not undergo any significant changes, although gunsmiths continued a number of studies, including the use of press-stamping equipment for the manufacture of a frame and a bolt casing from a steel sheet. The reduction by the military of the requirements for the external finishing of weapons upon acceptance led to the fact that in 1942-1945, on Walter pistols, in order to reduce the cost after final machining, a cheaper semi-matte coating began to be applied to metal parts. And only at the very end of the war, due to the general deterioration in the supply of necessary materials to the arms industry, the companies decided to slightly deteriorate the external finishing of the pistol, which, however, did not affect the reduction in the combat qualities of the weapon. During the Second World War, the “R-38” showed in combat conditions not only its high performance qualities and unpretentiousness in maintenance, but also showed good shooting accuracy, not inferior in this indicator to the famous “Parabellum”. Although, in accordance with the technical characteristics, the optimal firing range is within 25 m, the bullet retains its destructive power at a distance of up to 1600 m. At a distance of 50 m, the bullet penetrates loose soil by 350 mm, sand by 250 mm. When shooting at 25 meters, a bullet with an initial speed of 355 m/s, fired from a P-38 pistol, pierced a pine board 23 centimeters thick, and from a distance of one hundred meters - a board 17 centimeters thick. An iron sheet 2 millimeters thick, when hit by a bullet at an angle of 90 degrees, penetrated from a distance of up to 20 meters. At the same time, a steel sheet 2 mm thick and an iron sheet 3 mm thick were not penetrated from a distance of 25 m, but only received a strong dent. However, this was quite enough to fight enemy personnel at a distance of 25 - 50 m. Along with the Wehrmacht, a small number of P-38s and their modifications were also used by the security service - SD; only for the Ministry of Internal Affairs during the war, 11,150 pistols of this model were manufactured. In order to create an optimal design for a multi-purpose pistol for law enforcement agencies, specialists from the S. Walther company in the early 40s reduced the barrel length of the P-38 model to 85 mm and received a version of the service pistol, which entered service with special units of the German political police. In 1944, on a special order from the Imperial Main Security Directorate (RSHA) for the Gestapo and SD, Spree-Werke produced several thousand shortened P-38 pistols with a barrel length of only 85 mm. In the middle of the Second World War, the Walther P-38 k pistol was released. .

Pistol "Walther P-38-k".
. This name hides the “R-38” variant with a shortened barrel 68 mm long, protruding beyond the bolt casing only to the phalanx (that is, the barrel thickens after 2-4 mm at the muzzle), where the front sight is located (although they were also produced options where the front sight was placed on the front edge of the bolt casing, and not on the barrel). This pistol was developed on the basis of the standard “P-38” for arming the Gestapo and SD. At the end of the Second World War, an attempt was made to produce the Walther “P-38” pistol with a barrel shortened to 68 mm for special law enforcement units, which received the name Walther “P-38K” (K - short) (these pistols were produced from 04.1974 to 06.1981 In total, about 2600 of them were manufactured). These pistols were produced in very small quantities, and, in fact, the P-38 pistols with a barrel length of 85 mm and the P-38 k became an intermediate solution to the problem until the advent of the Walther P-5 pistol. And a year earlier, in 1943, according to unconfirmed reports, German arms companies produced a batch of 1,500 pieces. “R-38”, chambered for the 7.65x22 mm Parabellum cartridge, which was clearly done for commercial purposes for sale on the Latin American arms market. Single copies of this pistol produced during the Great Patriotic War are practically never found nowadays and are a great rarity. . Production of the P-38 model began at the company's factory in Zella Melis in 1939. The markings on the left side of the bolt casing included the name “Walter” inscribed in the already known “flag”, the model designation “P-38” and the serial number with a zero prefix (for example, not No. 1769, but No. 001769). By the end of the summer of 1940, when army representatives introduced a coding system 13,000 pistols had already been produced Of all the contractors that produced the P-38 pistol for the army, the main one, naturally, was the Walter company. In 1940-1945, about 475,000 pistols were produced, but by the end of 1941, in response to an order received a few months earlier, the Mauser factory in Oberndorf also prepared for the production of the P-38. The production of the “Parabellum” P-08 on it was discontinued for the sake of pistols of the “Walter” design, and the first batches of P-38 made by “Mauser” began to arrive in the fall of 1942. The P-38 pistols produced in 1940-1941 had a blued surface. On the left side of the bolt housing they were stamped with the “Walther” brand. However, in the same year, 1940, the Germans, in order to ensure the secrecy of manufacturing companies, switched the marking of all small arms to alphanumeric codes. P-38 pistols manufactured by the Karl Walter company from August to October 1940 had the code “480”, and from October of the same year until the end of the Second World War they were marked with the company code “ac” (first factory in Zella-Mehlis received the digital designation “480”, which replaced the famous Walter “flag” from the shutter-casing). Pistols P-38. manufactured by Mauser-Werke A.G in 1942-1944, had the company code “byf”, and from January 1941 - the code “svw” (although the main code remained “byf”). The code designation of the factory in Oberndorf almost until the very end of the war was the cipher “byf”, which changed to “svw” literally in its last months. Weapons produced in 1943-1945 by the Spree-Werke company were branded “sug”. In total, Mauser produced a little more than 300,000 P-38 pistols. The P-38 pistol was also manufactured at the Spreeverke GmbH company, which delivered the first batches in May 1942. Its products are marked with the code “cvq”. Pistols marked “cvq”, often considered a “separate variant”, were simply marked with a broken coinage. It was even assumed that these pistols were assembled at a secondary factory in Kratzau (Gradkov) in northern Czechoslovakia, but there is still no indisputable data to confirm this version. In addition, in 1943, a batch of beautifully made pistols was produced for civilian use. These samples had a standard “Walter” mark on the shutter-casing in the form of a flag and a full legend indicating the name of the company and model nomenclature. Variants with a barrel length of 85 mm were also produced, which made these “P-38” very convenient for covert “horizontal” carrying in a shoulder holster (with the barrel back and the handle forward), and not with the handle back and the barrel down (“vertical” carrying), like the P-38 with a “normal” barrel length. Due to the fact that the production of the P-38 model was carried out by three general contractors and several subcontractor enterprises, this explains the variety of military and civilian marks on pistols, as well as the different number of riflings (4 or 6, but 6 riflings had 85% priority ) and various linings (depending on the supplier company, they could be either with small or large corrugations, or with transverse wide grooves , and not to mention the color range, although brown and black dominated in color), although to reduce the cost of production and to simplify maintenance in the field, the Walther P-38 pistols received a new design of cheeks with wide transverse grooves, which were made from a special type of plastic - brown bakelite , however, depending on the supplier company and the time of manufacture, they could be of a variety of shades , all the way to black. The defeat of the Third Reich completed another, but not the last, page in the history of the unique Walther P-38 pistol. With the surrender of Germany, the military production of the Walther and Spree- Werke companies were liquidated, and their equipment was exported as reparations to the USSR (here it is worth mentioning the fact that foreigners often call the Makarov pistol the “Russian Walther PP”, claiming that the idea of ​​the “Makarov” is ours the gunsmiths “saw" in the tables of the Walther company. In reality, the situation was like this: in post-war Germany at that time less than one quarter of experienced gunsmiths and personnel remained, another quarter was able to escape to France, another two quarters of German gunsmiths fell into the hands of the American military, and in reality, after the surrender of Germany, part of the weapons documentation was able to be preserved by the Germans themselves, who fled to France and the USA after 1945, reviving the production of “Walters” in their historical homeland in the early 50s , as well as in France and the USA, another no less respectable part of the documentation fell into the hands of the American military along with specialists, some of whom (a quarter, see above), having asked for political asylum from the Americans, remained in the United States and continued to work in their profession on American soil. As a matter of fact, this is where the Americans developed such a great love for German weapons, and it is also not surprising to one of the authors that the new standard American army pistol “Beretta-92 FS” has a trigger pull that protrudes outward, like the same “Walther P-38” , since the Germans and Italians have a long-standing cultural exchange, lasting not decades, but, perhaps, centuries, as clearly evidenced by the fact that the famous Georg Luger knew the Italian language perfectly. Only a small part of the machine park of cartridge factories fell into the hands of the Soviet military , which was exported to the USSR, where the secret production of 9x19-mm “Parabellum” and 9x17-mm “Browning Short” cartridges began, so secret that in the early 70s to the mid-90s law enforcement agencies were forced to use illegally stored pistols, specially re-compressed 9x18-mm “PM” cartridges. Once one of the authors had to see spent 9x19-mm caliber cartridges, which had absolutely no marks), Poland, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. Only Mauser-Werke continued production of the P-38 after the war. On April 20, 1945, French troops occupied the city of Oberndorf am Neckar, where the main facilities of this company were located. And soon production of the P-38 resumed here, but for the French occupation forces. Subsequently, these weapons were used for several decades by both the armed forces and intelligence services of France, which, by the way, caused one of the many conflicts between East and West. And only in the summer of 1946, as a result of repeated protests from the Soviet side, the equipment of Mauser-Werke AG was also taken out as reparations, and the production complex itself was blown up so that the Germans would not start producing weapons here again. wartime Walther P-38 pistols Thus, “R-38” pistols manufactured in 1940-45. armies and law enforcement agencies of many states armed themselves. Along with the Bundeswehr, where the P-38 has been used since the late 1940s. once again became a standard army pistol, they were also used by the barracks police of the GDR until the mid-1950s . In addition, in 1945-46. At the former Spree-Werke plant , approximately 3,000 P-38 pistols were assembled from parts remaining in warehouses transferred to the Czechoslovak People's Army. And today, 55 years after the end of the war, many military-issue P-38s are in service with armies and law enforcement agencies in Austria, Lebanon, Mozambique, Pakistan... When the Federal Republic of Germany was rebuilding its armed forces in the 1950s , the Bundeswehr decided to make the Walther P-38 his standard weapon. . The production of this pistol continues today in the city of Ulm (Ulm/Donau) on the banks of the Danube. Here in 1951, after restrictions were lifted from Germany, a company named after its founder, Carl Walther Waffenfabrik Ulm/Do, settled, who headed it until 1915. For brevity, it is often called or simply “Walther” (Walter), according to the inscription on the brand name in the form of a wavy ribbon, which the product released by the company has. Initially, the production of hunting rifles and sporting weapons was restored . In 1957, the factory in Ulm resumed production of the P-38 pistol and began production of its modifications, such as the P-1 and P-4, which entered service with the Bundeswehr and law enforcement agencies not only Germany, but also a number of countries, such as Austria, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Chile after the end of the war. . Since 1957, the production of a slightly improved version of the “R-38” model has continued - with a frame made of light alloy, these are pistols of the “R-1” and “R-4” models. It is perhaps worth telling in more detail about the Walther P-4 pistol. This modified version of the “Walther P-38” pistol, which appeared in 1974, had a shorter barrel and a recess on the combat surface of the trigger. With the trigger down, the shank of the firing pin was inside this recess, thanks to which even a strong blow to the trigger .

Pistol "Walther P-1".
. could not fire a shot (that is, when the trigger is pressed, the safety lever positions the striker in line with the trigger cutout only for the time necessary to fire a shot. A feature of the Walther “P-4” pistol is not only that it has a frame made of light metal alloy and a shortened barrel, but also in the changes that the safety mechanism has undergone. The safety flag on the bolt serves only for the safe release of the hammer from cocking and blocks the firing pin only at the moment of release (movement) of the hammer. A locking of the trigger mechanism was also introduced in depending on the completeness of movement of the trigger. In addition, the design of these models formed the basis for the creation in the late 70s of a new semi-automatic pistol designed for the same cartridge - 9x19, which was named Walther "P-5", but The conversation will follow below. These pistols are supplied not only to the armed forces of Germany, Austria, Denmark, Norway, but also to law enforcement agencies with markings on the slide “P-1 Cal. 9 mm", and for civilian sale (turnover) - as "P-38 Cal. 9 mm". Models “R-38” and “R-1” are also available in a custom version and are manufactured with polishing, nickel plating and engraving. The “R-38” model, upon individual order, is made of stainless steel with gold inlay and wood carving handles in the “Lux” and “Gift” versions. . The P-38 pistol was officially adopted by the German army in 1957, and the P-4 pistol in 1976. In 1963, the P-38 model received a new name “P-1” (“pistole 1 "), although it was distinguished from wartime pistols only by the presence of a lightweight alloy frame and minor improvements in the mechanism of the safety lever and striker, as well as the absence of a cartridge indicator in the chamber (even the P-38 pistols produced during the Second World War for the most part did not have this indicator, although Currently, versions are produced with an indicator of the presence of a cartridge in the chamber). The “P-1” design provided an automatic firing pin safety (even though the pin safety was retained), which released the firing pin just before the hammer was supposed to strike it. The production of pistols for civilian use has also resumed. Currently, there are modifications for .22 LR caliber cartridges (according to numerous statements, this modification is in fact an extremely simplified blowback design) and 9x21 mm “IMI” (as foreign gunsmiths say, this is a cartridge for those who value consistency. It was conceived as a “civilian” analogue 9x19-mm cartridge for European countries, and in external geometry, except for the length of the sleeve, it is almost completely similar to the 9x19-mm cartridge, but, unlike 9x19, there are no reinforced analogues of the 9x21-mm “IMI”, only similar in external geometry to 9x21-mm “IMI”, manufacturers not only do not produce, but do not intend to produce, rightly claiming that for this there is a 9x19-mm cartridge and many of its variants, both with “standard” impulse and pressure, and enhanced ones To be honest, at present, on the P-38 pistols supplied for civilian use, only the caliber is indicated - 9 mm, which allows you to easily change the 9x19 mm caliber barrel to a 9x21 mm caliber table "IMI") and 7 .65x22mm Luger. In the 1960s, the P-38 reappeared in the United States, its price was $96, and in 1990 the standard 9 mm model with a frame cost $995, and its steel frame version retailed for $1,400. . Partial disassembly of the Walther P-38 pistol is very simple: first remove the magazine, then move the bolt to the rearmost position to check whether there is a cartridge in the chamber, after which, taking the pistol in your hands and pressing the barrel of the pistol against some solid surface (board or table), turn the lock lever until the cutout on the lock lever is parallel to the bolt. After this, holding the shutter by the notches, you need to pull the shutter forward to remove it from the frame (here the frame needs to be held with the handle up, and nothing else!). After this, holding the bolt with the locking latch upward, you need to remove the barrel by pulling it by the muzzle. After completing all these steps, incomplete disassembly is considered complete. Assembly is carried out in reverse order. You can see a cross-sectional diagram of the P-38 pistol here. You can see a diagram of the complete disassembly of the P-38 pistol here. Finally, it is worth mentioning the fact that the same “R-38” were produced (and are currently being produced), but in 7.62x25 mm “TT” caliber, and so far the biography of the “R-38” model cannot be called closed ( although in the 1990s of the last century, the “R-38” model of 7.62x25 mm “TT” caliber on the domestic “black market”, oddly enough, was not “running”, although, according to one of the authors, this there is nothing surprising, because not every ballistic expert knows that Walther P-38 pistols of 7.62x25 mm TT caliber , let alone criminal elements).

. Characteristics

**************************************** *********** Caliber, mm 9 / 7.62 Cartridge used 9x19 “Parabellum” / 7.62x25 “TT” Rifling 4 or 6 grooves (right-handed) Rifling pitch, mm 250 (6, cal. 9x19 “Luger”, 9x21 “IMI”) / 240 (4, cal. 7.62x25 mm “TT”) Length, mm 215 Barrel length, mm 125 Muzzle velocity, m/s 350 Rate of fire, v/m 50 rpm Magazine capacity, cartridges 8 Sighting range, m 50

Literature

• Material part of small arms. Ed. A. A. Blagonravova. - M.: Oborongiz NKAP, 1945
• Sergey Monetchikov. Walther P-38. A few pages of history // “Master Gun” magazine, No. 3 (15), 1997. pp. 16-27
• “Weapons”, 2000 No. 10. Special issue. Infantry weapons of the Third Reich. Pistols. Part I
• A. B. Zhuk. Encyclopedia of small arms: revolvers, pistols, rifles, submachine guns, machine guns. M., AST Publishing House LLC, Voenizdat, 2002.
• Pistol "Walter" P-38 // F. K. Babak. Wehrmacht small arms. St. Petersburg, Polygon, 2003. pp. 51-66

Links

• Prototypes of the Walther P.38 pistol
• Article by Vladislav Kashtanov on the Walter P.38 pistol on the website armory-online.ru
• How to field stripp the German pistol P38.
• Walter P-Z8 and P-38K Archived copy dated October 6, 2009 on the Wayback Machine
• The Walther P38 Explained - Download by Gerard HENROTIN (H&L Publishing - HLebooks.com 2005) (inaccessible link)
• Walter P.38
• (inaccessible link) Pistols of Germany. Walther P 38. (unavailable link) (unavailable link)
• Detailed photo gallery
• Drawings of Pistole 38 (Mauser-Werke AG) 1945